But there was also a political quiz that pegged me as a “moderate,” which might be reasonable conclusion since libertarians have some right-wing views and some left-wing views. But that quiz also concluded that I had “few strong opinions,” which is a nonsensical result.

But maybe I really am a moderate because there’s a new 20-question quiz from IDRlabs and – as you can see – I’m exactly in the middle.

What makes this quiz interesting (or bizarre, depending on your outlook) is that none of the questions are about issues. Instead, you’re asked about lifestyle. Such as:

Are you orderly or messy?

Do you prefer country music or classical music?

Do you want your home on a busy street or quiet street?

Are philosophical discussions fun, boring, or pointless?

Do you like arugula?

At the risk of over-simplifying, if you give answers suggesting you prefer a quiet and conventional life, you’ll get a right-wing score. And you’ll get a left-wing score if your answers suggest you have a more eclectic approach to life (and, if you’re like me, you don’t know whether you like arugula, so you have a hard time answering certain questions).

For what it’s worth, I think the quiz does capture something important. There is research indicating that people’s policy views are largely determined by underlying values.

And these values are more important than economics. Coming from a leftist perspective, Thomas Frank wrote What’s the Matter with Kansas last decade to address the supposed paradox of people with modest incomes voting for conservative politicians. And Thomas Edsall, also coming from the left, observed in the New York Times that wealthy people have become Democrats.

This is outside of my area of expertise, but I’m interested in this type of analysis because it’s my job to proselytize in favor of freedom. So I often try to convince right wingers to have a more laissez-faire approach to social and international matters and I often try to convince left wingers to have a more laissez-faire approach to economic issues.

But how do you convince people about issues if their views are dependent on an underlying value system?

And it gets more complicated because of what’s happening in society.

I’ll share a couple of items that struck me as important. First, here’s some of what Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

There are the protected and the unprotected. The protected make public policy. The unprotected live in it. …The protected are the accomplished, the secure, the successful—those who have power or access to it. They are protected from much of the roughness of the world. …They are figures in government, politics and media. They live in nice neighborhoods, safe ones. Their families function, their kids go to good schools, they’ve got some money. All of these things tend to isolate them, or provide buffers. …They’re insulated from many of the effects of their own decisions. …This is a terrible feature of our age—that we are governed by protected people who don’t seem to care that much about their unprotected fellow citizens.

And here’s a video featuring David Goodhart of London’s Policy Exchange, who says that the split is now between the “anywheres” who are cosmopolitan and the “somewheres” who are traditional.

In some sense, it seems that politics is being determined by class. The “protected” and the “anywheres” are increasingly on the left (the “rational left” rather than the Bernie variety). And the “unprotected” and the “somewheres” are voting blocs for the right.

Incidentally, this worries me because elites have a disproportionate influence on public policy, And there’s now cultural pressure for such people to adopt left-wing views (a good example is the condescending tone of this Washington Post column). Simply stated, most educated people want to be seen as urbane and cosmopolitan, characteristics that are now associated with the left.

And it goes without saying that Trump is probably accelerating this process – which is doubly frustrating to me because his occasional support for good policy doesn’t change the fact that he’s not a supporter of free markets and limited government. Yet because he is now an avatar for the right, many educated people will now decide they should support statist policies and candidates.

The bottom line is that being an advocate for liberty is becoming an even bigger challenge!

I took the test and came out with a 40/60 “mildly conservative” rating. I can assure you that I’m much more than “mildly” conservative. It’s not completely inaccurate, but I know which questions got me the 40 percent Liberal assessment, so if I had wanted to cheat, it would have been very easy.
Conservative folks have hearts and compassion too, but are able to see life more realistically and logically than their Liberal counterparts, in my humble opinion.

“In some sense, it seems that politics is being determined by class.”…class warfare is also a socialist platform plank and as proof I offer 8 years of Obama divisionism by class into “victim groups”, the constant refrain of “the rich are our enemies…GET THEM! I’ll help you.” [I’d heard this was some variety of “Fabian socialism” or a derivative but IDK. It may just be Obama’s socialism]. IMO he took the “working class” and their loyalty to the Ds for granted and Noonan’s piece and that video explain how they “woke”.

Trump has done what previous pols haven’t managed–he’s separated me from loyalty to politicians simply for saying they’re “like me” regardless of what they do. For that, I thank him as well as his good policies [not his bad ideas though]. I support policies that “are like me”, advancing what I believe is best for all of us and the nation [even if not necessarily best for me individually] for JFK got it right when he said, “A rising tide lifts all boats.” A prospering nation is a “rising tide” that makes all of us better off regardless of class or politics.

it’s difficult to convince young people of the realities of life when they have undergone 25 years of liberal indoctrination… form the time children watch their first cartoons… thru the completion of their college degree… the hard left controls the message… and shapes the character… values and belief system of our young people… family and social background have an impact… but often parents and family are thought of as representing an outmoded lifestyle and old fashioned values… they are people who just don’t understand the dynamics of the modern world… and the virtues of social justice… the objective of the hard left is to drive a wedge between young people and traditional American values… it’s all about political power… and a stunning array of “isms”………

in the heyday of national socialISM… babe’s first candy was stamped with a swastika…

I recently encountered what you refer to as the protected viewpoint in a discussion regarding the regulatory increase to fuel cost as a result of green energy policies. I said that gasoline is largely not a discretionary expense and that travel for pleasure would be curtailed, but not gasoline as a regular living expense. Instead rising fuel costs would be taken from other household budget items like food and clothing.

I had a reply to that from someone who suggested that Americans would do such things as buy more fuel efficient vehicles, move closer to their workplaces, and use public transportation.

In turn I pointed out that these things are options only for the affluent. Poor Americans don’t usually have the option of replacing their cars with new ones. Moving can be a major hardship, even when a desirable home in their budget is available. And public transportation is seldom an option to workers on second and third shifts, or for households where parents must take the children to childcare prior to a work shift.

I’ve yet to get a response to my reply and I suspect that the commenter had simply never thought about how, in America, NOT using a private automobile can be a luxury.

Took the test- ended up mildly conservative (60 to 40). Lots of assumptions in the test- like all these tests. For instance, I would never voluntarily eat monkey meat. But, if I was in a prison camp, or on a desert island and it was all there was… well different story. ALL of the questions were that way- I could see myself answering differently depending on the situation or my mindset. Kinda stupid- like all these tests tend to be.

Anyway- I think the leftist/rightist thing gets down to preferred government control level. I could care less what viewpoints somebody has as long as they keep them from interfering with my own life. And there’s the problem. Like a group of second graders who have been allowed to make their own rules, our government has gotten carried away and leftists (and even confused rightists) have slipped in rules that only limit our freedoms because of some event that caused them to decide to make a law to prevent it ever happening again. Rightists unfortunately miss the point that those rules only apply to those who follow the law. The lawless are going to break rules anyway. Let’s stop making rules for the exceptions- they are already punishable.